I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1583 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require that the Secretary 

of the Treasury provide a Tax Receipt to each taxpayer who files a 

Federal income tax return. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2011 

Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. STARK, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

WEINER, Mr. MORAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. FARR) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require 

that the Secretary of the Treasury provide a Tax Receipt 

to each taxpayer who files a Federal income tax return. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taxpayer Receipt Act 

5 of 2011’’. 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1583 IH

1 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF TAXPAYER RECEIPT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Rev3 enue Code of 1986 (relating to miscellaneous provisions) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 7529. TAXPAYER RECEIPT. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the first October 

7 15 occurring after 1 year after the date of the enactment 

8 of this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 

9 provide via United States mail a Tax Receipt to each tax10 payer (other than a trust, estate, partnership, or corpora11 tion) who made a return with respect to income taxes 

12 under chapter 1 for the preceding taxable year and for 

13 whom a current mailing address can be determined 

14 through such methods as the Secretary determines to be 

15 appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(b) TAX RECEIPT.—For purposes of this section, 

17 each Tax Receipt shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) state the amount of taxes paid (even if $0) 

19 and refund made to the taxpayer and state (by each 

20 filing status specified in subsections (a) through (d) 

21 of section 1) the average amount of tax paid by tax22 payers in each tax bracket, and 

23 ‘‘(2) contain a table listing— 

24 ‘‘(A) each of the spending categories de25 scribed in subsection (c), 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1583 IH

1 ‘‘(B) with respect to each spending cat2 egory described in subsection (c)— 

3 ‘‘(i) the ratio (expressed as a percent4 age) which bears the same percentage of 

5 the taxpayer’s income tax liability for the 

6 preceding taxable year to such category as 

7 the ratio that such category bears to the 

8 total of the spending categories described 

9 in subsection (c) for the fiscal year ending 

10 in the preceding taxable year, and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the proportional amount (ex12 pressed in dollars) of the taxpayer’s income 

13 tax liability spent on that category, and 

14 ‘‘(C) the percentage change the results 

15 under clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (B) 

16 are from the preceding year (expressed in 

17 positives and negatives), 

18 ‘‘(3) contain a table listing— 

19 ‘‘(A) each of the spending categories de20 scribed in subsection (c), 

21 ‘‘(B) the percentage each such category is 

22 of the total Federal outlays for the fiscal year 

23 ending in the preceding taxable year and the 

24 dollar amount of each such category, and 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1583 IH

1 ‘‘(C) the percentage change the results 

2 under subparagraph (B) are from the preceding 

3 year (expressed in positives and negatives), 

4 ‘‘(4) contain a table of the 10 most costly tax 

5 expenditures, and the cost of such expenditures, for 

6 the fiscal year ending in the preceding taxable year, 

7 ‘‘(5) contain the annual budget review described 

8 in subsection (e), 

9 ‘‘(6) contain the graphs described in para10 graphs (1) and (2) of section 7523(a) for the fiscal 

11 year ending in the preceding taxable year, 

12 ‘‘(7) be not more than 4 pages in length, and 

13 ‘‘(8) contain the Internet address of the Web 

14 site of the Department of the Treasury described in 

15 subsection subsection (f). 

16 ‘‘(c) SPENDING CATEGORY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A spending category re18 ferred to in this subsection is one of the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) Administration of Justice. 

20 ‘‘(B) Agriculture. 

21 ‘‘(C) Allowances. 

22 ‘‘(D) Commerce and Housing Credit. 

23 ‘‘(E) Community and Regional Develop24 ment. 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1583 IH

1 ‘‘(F) Education, Training, Employment, 

2 and Social Services. 

3 ‘‘(G) Energy. 

4 ‘‘(H) General Science, Space, and Tech5 nology. 

6 ‘‘(I) General Government. 

7 ‘‘(J) Health. 

8 ‘‘(K) Income Security. 

9 ‘‘(L) International Affairs. 

10 ‘‘(M) International Development and Hu11 manitarian Assistance. 

12 ‘‘(N) Medicare. 

13 ‘‘(O) Medicaid. 

14 ‘‘(P) National Defense. 

15 ‘‘(Q) Natural Resources and Environment. 

16 ‘‘(R) Net Interest on the National Debt. 

17 ‘‘(S) Ongoing military operation authorized 

18 under a formal declaration of war by Congress 

19 or resolution passed by the United Nations Se20 curity Council, including Operation New Dawn, 

21 Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation En22 during Freedom, with each such military oper23 ation listed as a separate spending category. 

24 ‘‘(T) Salaries and Benefits for Members of 

25 Congress. 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1583 IH

1 ‘‘(U) Social Security. 

2 ‘‘(V) Transportation. 

3 ‘‘(W) Undistributed Offsetting Receipts. 

4 ‘‘(X) Veterans Benefits and Services. 

5 ‘‘(2) RULES RELATING TO APPROPRIATE

6 SPENDING CATEGORIES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para8 graph (1)— 

9 ‘‘(i) the spending categories shall be 

10 set forth in order of cost, with the greatest 

11 expense stated first, and 

12 ‘‘(ii) each spending category shall 

13 have a one sentence, general description of 

14 the programs, projects, and activities com15 prising that spending category. 

16 ‘‘(B) PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, AND ACTIVI17 TIES.—The Secretary shall assign each Federal 

18 program, project, or activity to one of the cat19 egories described in paragraph (1). Once as20 signed, the program, project, or activity cannot 

21 be moved to a different spending category in 

22 subsequent years. If a program, project, or ac23 tivity changes in material substance, the Sec24 retary may, in consultation with Congress, 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1583 IH

1 move the program, project, or activity to the 

2 appropriate spending category. 

3 ‘‘(d) TAX EXPENDITURES.—For purposes of this sec4 tion, the term ‘tax expenditure’ shall have the meaning 

5 given such term by section 3(3) of the Congressional 

6 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 

7 621). 

8 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL BUDGET REVIEW.—The annual budget 

9 review described in this subsection with respect to a fiscal 

10 year shall be prepared by the Secretary in consultation 

11 with the Congressional Budget Office and shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) use the budget projections prepared by the 

13 Congressional Budget Office, and 

14 ‘‘(2) include— 

15 ‘‘(A) an estimate of total Federal receipts 

16 and outlays for the current fiscal year, 

17 ‘‘(B) actual Federal receipts and outlays 

18 for the preceding 5 fiscal years, and 

19 ‘‘(C) projections of Federal receipts and 

20 outlays for the succeeding 10 fiscal years. 

21 ‘‘(f) RULE RELATING TO NONRESIDENT ALIENS.— 

22 Subsection (a) shall not apply to an individual who is a 

23 nonresident alien (within the meaning of section 

24 7701(b)(1)(B)). 

25 ‘‘(g) WEB SITE.— 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1583 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Web site referred to in 

2 this subsection is a Web site on which a taxpayer 

3 can input his Federal income tax liability and see 

4 more detailed information concerning each of the 

5 categories contained in his Tax Receipt. 

6 ‘‘(2) PERIOD FOR MAINTAINING TAX RE7 CEIPTS.—The Web site shall maintain a copy of the 

8 receipt for each taxpayer for the previous 5 years. 

9 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF TAXPAYER INFORMA10 TION.—In making information available on a Web 

11 site pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall en12 sure proper access to online taxpayer records and 

13 shall protect the security and privacy of taxpayer in14 formation online.’’. 

15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

16 for chapter 77 of such Code is amended by adding at the 

17 end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7529. Taxpayer receipt.’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to returns for taxable years begin20 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


pwalker on DSKD5P82C1PROD with BILLS